Oklahoman: Oklahoma Senate special election will be in October
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June 02, 2011
Oklahoma Senate special election
will be in October
The filing period for Senate District 43 in Oklahoma and Cleveland counties will be June 13-15. Current GOP Sen. Jim Reynolds will resign July 1 to take another elected office.
BY PAUL MONIES pmonies@opubco.com
Published: June 2, 2011
The filing period for a soon-to-be vacant Senate seat in southern Oklahoma County and northern Cleveland County will be June 13-15, the state Election Board said Wednesday.
Gov. Mary Fallin chose Oct. 11 for a special general election to fill Senate District 43.
The special primary election will be Aug. 9.
Sen. Jim Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, will resign his Senate seat effective July 1. Reynolds was elected Cleveland County treasurer last fall and takes office next month.
The winner of the special election will serve the remainder of Reynolds’ term. The seat will be up for election again in November 2012, although it will move south to McClain, Garvin and Stephens counties after boundary changes.
Rep. Paul Wesselhoft, R-Moore, announced a run for the District 43 seat late last year and already has raised and spent money. But changes to the district under the Senate’s new redistricting plan have given him pause.
Wesselhoft said Wednesday he’s talked to a lot of people but is still trying to decide about the race. Wesselhoft lives in the middle of the senate district under its current form. Under the new boundaries, his house will be in Senate District 15, which is held by a term-limited Sen. Jonathan Nichols, R-Norman.
“The special election looks pretty easy for me, but the 2012 election would be a lot more challenging because the district configuration changes so much that it really throws a wrench in the machinery,” Wesselhoft said.
Democrats outnumber Republicans in Senate District 43 by almost 1,800 voters, according to voter registration data. Democrats make up 45 percent of the registered voters, with Republicans at 40 percent. Registered independents make up 15 percent of the voters.
In 2008, the race between Reynolds and Democrat David Boren went to a recount. Boren, a nurse from Moore, was no relation to University of Oklahoma President David Boren. Reynolds won by 159 votes.
Matt Pinnell, chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party, said the upcoming special election puts possible candidates in a unique situation. It could be hard to find candidates living in the district who might only serve in one legislative session before the boundaries change.
“We’re aggressively recruiting candidates and taking phone calls from people, but it’s obviously a unique situation,” Pinnell said.
Under the redistricting plan, most of the current voters in Senate District 43 will be in Republican Sen. Steve Russell‘s redrawn District 45. The rest will be split among four other senate districts.
